Fall is a great time for coffee lovers and whether you like to enjoy a cup with a good book or some Direct TV or you need your jolt of joe to get off to a good start in the morning, here’s what’s trending now
Gourmet Creamers: You may have noticed lines of gourmet creamers in grocery store refrigerators – they’re everywhere now. Flavors range from crme brulee to classic French vanilla bean but they’re all a great way to spice things up.
Coffee Drinks: Yeah, we mean adult drinks. Coffee flavor is infusing everything from martinis to hot drinks and bars everywhere love the cheap availability of coffee. Rum and darker whiskeys match well with the flavor but experiment for yourself to find what you like.
Instant Coffee: Ever since Starbucks released their VIA line a year or so back, instant coffee is officially trending again. You’ll have to taste a few to find one that doesn’t feel like dirt but once you’ve got a winner you’ll love the convenience. Starbucks even sells instant coffee travel mugs.

As one of the more famous coffee shops in America, the place has certainly made their name in the business. When they opened in 1987, they truly did not expect to make this much of an impact on the local market. They are mainly in the Midwest and there are currently 74 locations. There are however 11 other branches outside of the Midwest and so the total is now 85 locations throughout America. In 2006, they were the 9th largest coffee company in the United States and they certainly are climbing their way to the top. Read the rest of this entry »

For those who love coffee shops, and love going on the nights that there are activities to take part in, the best nights can be trivia night, when you go with a team, and compete against others. You can either go with a group of friends, or you can go on your own, and take part in the fun and in the competition. Many nights at coffee shops, many of the shops will have trivia nights for prizes for the winner, or the winning teams. They will offer free cups of coffee, or a discount of some sort on the next visit that the winner makes to the coffee shops. There are also other nights, such as open mic night, or poetry and book readings, depending on the coffee shops that you visit, and what activities they promote at the local shop you go to. So, whether you are a trivia buff, or whether you just like hanging out with a group of friends for a great cup of coffee, you are going to love the fun things and activities that you can take part in, when you go to the local coffee shops where you live, for group event nights.

You’ve probably heard of Peet’s coffee, but you may not know that it’s the oldest coffeehouse chain in the U.S., founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet. Peet was a native of The Netherlands, and had learned about coffee roasting there. He opened the first Peet’s coffee shop near the campus of the University of California Berkeley in 1966, five years before Starbucks was born. The original Peet’s store still stands on Vine Street in Berkeley, and Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Trivia And Facts About Seattle’s Best

If you’re a lover of coffee, and who isn’t, then you can be happy to know that Seattle’s Best brand coffee is actually a subsidiary of the company Starbucks. While this may not mean that the coffee is the same, but it means that the company uses many of the same scrupulous practices for selecting the best beans. A now common practice with specialty coffees that Seattle’s Best did from the beginning.

The company itself began in the 1970′s, and originally began as a coffee and ice cream shop called Wet Whisker. The original founder, Jim Stewart who bought his first coffee roaster from a peanut vendor. His second year in business and he had already sold close to 500 lbs in coffee. This roaster, though no longer owned or used by Seattle’s Best Coffee, is still operated today. In 1983, Stewart decided to change the company name to Stewart Brothers Coffee, and with his brother Dave, opened more shops all over Seattle.

It wouldn’t be until 1991, after winning a local competition, that Stewart renamed the company to Seattle’s Best Coffee. In the same year, the company was sold to investors who also owned Torrefazione Italia, which is now known for their coffee beans sold under the Starbucks name, though the Seattle’s Best Brand would remain a separate entity. In 1998, the company would introduce Organic coffees to their already much popular lines, and would begin franchising under the name Seattle Coffee Company, after being sold to the franchising company AFC. This would bring the company out of Seattle, spreading chains not only nationwide, but within 11 different countries too.

Seattle’s Best Coffee is the second largest coffee bean roaster in the U.S., it’s also the second largest retailer. It also boasts the second largest wholesaler of specialty coffees in the U.S. too. With its main distribution, found in retail coffee locations and select food industries, like Burger King, J.C. Penny’s, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Blenz Coffee in Canada. Also as of 2011, you can also now find Seattle’s Best Coffee on all Delta Connection flights.

In 2010, Starbucks attempted to rebrand Seattle’s Best Coffee, and change its logo to appear more generic. However, the public highly revoked this change, and this Starbucks was forced to cancel the label redesign. Not much has changed since the beginning days of the company, though it changed hands a few times, and technically owned by Starbucks twice in its history. The way the coffee was made, hand selected and hand roasted, has never changed.

If you’re looking for a good cuppa joe, look no further than The Coffee Beanery. Started in 1976, The Coffee Beanery has spread from Michigan as far west as California, as far south as Texas and Florida, and all the way to Connecticut on the east coast. There are over 130 franchises in twenty-four states.

If you travel outside the United States, you can find stores in several countries. Since 2001, The Coffee Beanery has opened twenty-five overseas franchises in countries as diverse Read the rest of this entry »

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was a brain storm that began in 1963 in California, and has grown to include 750 store locations in more than 20 countries, including China and Australia and many locations in the Mid East.
Some of the locations include full service coffee Kiosk’s in several grocery stores in Southern California.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf serve 100 million beverages annually, including 20,000 ice blended drinks each day.
All products at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf are certified Read the rest of this entry »

Tim Horton’s is a Canadian fast food restaurant best known for their selection of doughnuts and coffee. It was founded in 1964 by hockey player Tim Horton. He played for several National Hockey League teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Buffalo Sabres. In the 60′s, they only charged 10 cents each for a cup of coffee and a doughnut. Of course, that is no longer the case today, but Tim Horton’s did manage to keep some things the same; the Read the rest of this entry »

Caribou Coffee with headquarters in Minneapolis Minnesota is a specialty coffee and espresso retailer. Caribou Coffee is the second largest coffee retailer in the United Sates after Starbucks. A trip in 1990 to Denali National Park in Alaska was the inspiration for the Company’s name. After seeing the beautiful vistas and spotting a herd of caribou founders, John and Kim Puckett knew what they would name their company. The first Caribou coffee shop opened in Edina Minnesota in 1992.

Caribou coffee has over 6,000 employees with nearly 600 company Read the rest of this entry »